PHILADELPHIA — Ed Lucas ended up being the hero after he nearly wound up being the goat.

Lucas homered in the 10th inning to lift the Miami Marlins to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

[1]In the bottom of the 10th, the third baseman made an error that allowed leadoff hitter Carlos Ruiz to reach base, opening the door for the Phillies to load the bases with one out.

“I was feeling pretty good after the homer, to say the least,” Lucas said. “To boot that first ball, it checked up on me a little bit, but it was definitely a play that I should’ve made. Once that happened, you’re like, `No, this is not gonna happen.”

But Marlins closer Steve Cishek struck out Roger Bernadina and induced a ground ball from Freddy Galvis to end it.
The save was Cishek’s 31st overall and 26th in a row, the longest active streak in the major leagues and one shy of the Marlins’ franchise record set by Todd Jones in 2005.

“He’s riding a streak — I’m not gonna lie to you, that crossed my mind,” Lucas said. “So I was happy to see him really bear down and close it out.”

The homer was the fourth of the season for Lucas. Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton tied the game 3-3 in the sixth inning with a two-run, homer to center field that was measured at 460 feet.

“It was a slider slightly down and in,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said of Lucas’ homer. “A pitch you’d want back, but it wasn’t a hanging pitch.”

Brad Hand (1-1) was credited with the victory for pitching a scoreless ninth.

Cesar Jimenez (1-1) took the loss as Miami snapped its seven-game losing streak to Philadelphia.

“Obviously, it’s something that we’ve been looking for all year. It got a little hairy there at the end but we made it through. It was a big win,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. “That was a big building block for us tonight, to be able to secure that win with our backs definitely against the wall there.”

A couple of Phillies miscues in the fifth inning set up the Marlins’ first run. Following Adeiny Hechavarria’s single, Nathan Eovaldi reached first base on an error when Ruiz fielded his sacrifice bunt attempt in front of home and threw too high to second.

Luis Garcia’s wild pitch moved the runners to second and third with one out, and Hechavarria scored on Donovan Solano’s groundout.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on two walks and a single and tied it on a passed ball. Chase Utley drove in two runs with a single to right.

Philadelphia squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the eighth. Domonic Brown led off with a double and moved to third on a groundout. After Cody Asche struck out, Bernadina hit a liner toward shortstop but Hechavarria made a diving stop to preserve the tie.

“He’s such a great defender, I’m glad he’s on our side,” Redmond said of Hechavarria. “The amazing thing is how his ease to balls is, he kind of flows and glides to balls and makes these plays look relatively easy.”

Utley finished the series against the Marlins with six hits and 10 RBIs.

“He’s swinging a good bat, showing power and showing his leadership,” Sandberg said. “He’s a real steady force and will be a big piece for next year.”

Eovaldi struggled with his control through five innings, allowing three runs, four hits, four walks and a hit batter while striking out five.

In his first major league start since August 2009, Zach Miner tossed three scoreless innings for the Phillies and allowed two hits, walked two and struck out two.